


The Game Changer

by Pinophyta



Category: Ant-Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Scott Lang works at Cross Industries, Sex Tapes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 04:26:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15356220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinophyta/pseuds/Pinophyta
Summary: A very private recording of Scott Lang and Darren Cross, who have been dating in secret for a while, gets leaked. The aftermath of it threatens their public image, their careers, and worst of all: their relationship.





	The Game Changer

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU, Darren Cross is less bad than in the movie. Still weirdly intense, but not supervillain levels. He continued Pym’s research, but has given it non-military uses. Scott works for Cross Technologies. He works in IT, which I’m not sure he’s qualified for, but in this fanfic he is.
> 
> This story begins approximately a year and a half into their established relationship (though its origin and evolution are explored).

Darren Cross didn’t have a personal social media manager. Cross Technologies had a social media department, but his personal accounts were managed by no one but himself. He didn’t want to be one of those celebrity CEOs. He tweeted every now and then, usually things related to company business, and his instagram account only had pictures from public events. His online presence was very modest.

So when he noticed fifteen emails from the head of the Cross Technologies social media department, he was mildly confused. It was 7am and, aside from that, his inbox looked completely unremarkable: some schematics for him to review, a summary of test results from the research lab… The kind of emails he read over and replied to every morning, while having his coffee.

That day his coffee was quickly forgotten, as he opened the latest message from the social media department:

 

“EMERGENCY SITUATION,

MR CROSS, THERE HAS BEEN A LEAK OF PRIVATE INFORMATION THROUGH ONE OF YOUR PERSONAL DEVICES. PLEASE ANSWER ASAP. CHECK YOUR PRIVACY SETTINGS. COMPANY MEDIA ACCOUNTS ON HOLD, WAITING FOR YOUR WORD.”

 

He opened the other messages, but they were all practically the same, and none mentioned exactly _what_ it was that had been leaked. Fear began to creep through his mind.

Following a hunch, he checked twitter.

His name was trending.

Darren Cross looked at the screen with a blank expression in his face. Only the veins on his neck revealed the sudden increase in heart rate caused by his whole body being aflame with rage.

His name was trending along with hashtags like “leaked” and “sex tape”.

And there it was, indeed. Blurry pictures of it circulated through the web, and in minutes he found links to the video, readily available to watch, although he didn’t need to because the events in it were still fresh in his mind.

Him and Scott had met yesterday evening. They had gone for a run by the pier together, and after a good shower and dinner at his apartment, they’d had sex.

It had been really good sex, too. They hadn’t seen each other the whole week, and both were itching to spend time together. The week had been hell for Darren. He had been stuck in meeting after meeting, negotiating with different faces of Cross Technologies, none of them particularly friendly to the company changes he was trying to introduce. He missed working at the labs, down in engineering, doing anything besides arguing with economists who didn’t understand his vision.

So when he sat down with Scott that Sunday evening, drinking a cup of wine after dinner, he looked into his eyes and asked him to fuck him like he had never fucked anyone before. He wanted Scott to make him forget all about his worries. Scott eagerly said “can do!”, and soon after the fun begun.

The video picked up some time after that moment. They weren’t in a hurry. Scott could be seen in the background, buck naked and downing what remained of his cup of wine. Up close, in the foreground, there was Darren’s face. He was finding a good spot for the phone. Scott said something, but Darren’s hand was over the receiver so it was hard to make out.

“Yeah, in a sec. Just setting this up.” Darren had answered.

Once it was all set up, there really wasn’t that much to see. No one would give it any awards, not even as pornography. The focus was on Darren’s face, and he was bending down in bed right in front of the camera, showing his shoulders and part of his back. Scott’s face was only inside the frame when he bent forward, which he did several times, mostly to look at himself on the screen.

But regardless of quality, it was still a video of Darren Cross getting very obviously railed from behind, and even though he wasn’t the most vocal or expressive man in bed, that was still a facet of himself he didn’t want the world to see.

Scott began slow, like they always did. Always letting each other adjust, get ready, maybe add some more lube. At first Darren’s face showed nothing but relaxation. He closed his eyes and threw his head back, letting Scott warm both of them up at his own pace. Scott was really well endowed, despite the constant jokes about his size. In fact Darren often said that the main driving force behind Cross Technologies’ size altering research was “helping you, you poor thing”, but Scott never took it personally. He packed more than it looked, and both knew that well.

But one of his favorite things about how Scott did sex was how good he was at setting the pace. He had impressive control over his own needs, and really admirable stamina. In about five minutes he had gradually gone from gentle love-making, to… Well, really fucking giving it to Darren.

Scott’s hands were visible then, holding Darren’s waist, or his shoulders, really gripping his body as he pumped into him again and again. Darren was visibly winded, groaning, face flushed and secretly delighted by it all.

At the eight minute mark Darren sank his face on the pillow, drowning out a much louder moan. Through the phone screen, they looked at each other. “Everything alright?” Scott asked, without slowing down.

“Yeah, fuck yeah” Darren had muttered.

After that moment, for the remainder of the recording, Scott gradually increased his pace until he was shaking the whole bed with his thrusts. Darren’s composure broke, feeling his body ablaze with pleasure. Just as he had asked Scott, his worries and troubles were forgotten in a far away corner of his mind, and all that existed for him was the body of that man, on top of him. Inside him. Over and over again, fast and brutal, completely at his request.

Upon reviewing the recording, Darren found a very small comfort on thinking his orgasm face looked… okay. It wasn’t dignified, because nobody could ever look dignified doing that, but it seemed… normal. It could have been worse.

He felt a bit of regret about recording the video, but it didn’t last long, because this wasn’t supposed to happen on the first place.

He was extremely meticulous about his privacy settings. He had all cloud storage options turned off, and he always triple checked before sending anything to anyone. Yet somehow, in a window of approximately 7 hours, this video had found its way to the internet.

After digging for another ten minutes or so, that was another thing Darren noticed: this was the only video of him that had been “leaked”. It wasn’t the first time he recorded or photographed him and Scott having sex. Hell, they had even done it with Scott’s phone sometimes. And they exchanged nudes all the time. Yet somehow, only _this_ particular video had made it out.

The media manager was now texting his phone. She was probably desperate for instructions, wondering about the damage control the company would have to do…

Darren finally texted her, once the rage had subsided. His hands were still shaky, and murder was on his mind, but he managed to type out a reply that sounded calm and collected.

The company would do nothing. No acknowledgment, no response, nothing. This was a personal data leak, and as such the responsibility was entirely Darren’s. He would handle it. The media manager didn’t sound too convinced, but Darren tried to be reassuring. Everything would be okay.

The first things he checked were his sent messages, just to make sure he hadn’t accidentally tweeted the video, sent it to someone, or something like it. He was too proud to ever admit he could make a mistake like that, but just to discard the remote possibility that he did, he checked. And just as he imagined, the video was safely stored in his phone, and hadn’t been accidentally shared with anyone.

Second on his list of things to do was a quick trip to the IT department. He left his coffee behind, forgotten and cold. His stomach was in a knot anyway.

He left the office and made his way through the building with his head up high and a friendly expression on his face. The people on the building might have seen him (or would eventually see him) in a very private, undignified situation, but he still owned their fucking lives, so he would not bow down and blush in shame.

Scott Lang had a modest, shared office in the IT department. Darren came in without knocking and stood by Scott’s desk. He waited for the man to end his current call.

Scott hung up and smiled at him.

“Good morning, Mr. Cross.”

They had a strict rule about addressing each other professionally while inside the building, and by god if it didn’t work for Darren every time. Regardless, in that given moment, Scott’s cheery demeanor was only making him angry.

“Is it?” he said. “Is it a good morning?”

Scott looked down, defeated, and licked his lips.

“Yeah, no, I know.”

Darren looked at the vacant desk next to him, and pointed:

“Is your partner coming back?” he asked.

“He’s on paternity leave. Got the office all for myself today.”

Darren stepped closer and leaned against Scott’s desk.

“So you know.”

Scott nodded. He held up his phone.

“Yep. Found out through a friend of mine. He texted me, and I quote...” he pulled up the conversation on his phone. “Dude, your boss’ sex tape is all over the internet, haha.” Five minutes later, he texted: “Omg dude, is that you fucking your boss?”.

He turned the phone off and set it on the table. He shrugged, crossed his arms, and sat back on his chair.

Darren Cross inhaled, trying to remain calm.

“I need to ask you one thing.”

Scott sighed. He knew the question was coming, sooner or later. Frankly, he was surprised Darren hadn’t charged into the room, asking it over and over, at the top of his lungs.

Instead, the man inhaled, and as calmly as he managed, he asked Scott:

“Did you do it?”

Scott stared at him for a few seconds, smiling, even though his smile had a touch of sadness in it. He didn’t enjoy the accusation, but he understood Darren’s suspicion, and the need to get that question out of the way as soon as possible.

“No.” Scott finally said. “I know I’m an asshole, but I’m not this big of an asshole.”

“Then what happened?”

“It’s what I’ve been trying to find out since I got to work.” he pointed at his work station. “By the way, don’t expect any actual IT work to be done today. I’m trying to track down the source of the leak. If you lend me your phone, there’s a few other things I’d like to check.

Darren reached for his phone, hesitant, but eventually handed it over to Scott.

“How do you think it happened?”

“Same way these things always happen. Video goes to the cloud… and someone with too much time on their hands plucks it out of it.”

“No, it’s impossible. I have all cloud saving turned off.”

“Yeah, but the video makes it up there anyway. Maybe by accident, maybe through some legal loophole… Who knows. Maybe you could sue apple.”

“Oh, I will consider that. Anyhow, do you think you can handle this? Should I hire a security expert of some sort?”

“I’ll tell you what: let me look into it this morning. If by afternoon I haven’t found any leads, you bring in the heavies. And someone who knows something about law would be great, too. I mean… Someone’s gotta pay for this… How are you holding up?”

Darren looked up, startled.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

He was very good at hiding his emotions, even the more intense ones, negative or positive. But Scott had been seeing the man for over a year now, and although he didn’t see him as often as he wished, he had developed a good eye for when the man was shaken. And that morning, his tension was obvious.

“I’m sorry, I…” Scott said. “I know you look like an indomitable mountain of confidence, but… Man, it’s like… the worst video that could have been leaked.”

Darren sighed.

“I know”

“And my face is also in it, sure, but I’m a nobody. Yours is front and center, impossible to mistake, or to claim it was a fake. Man...”

Darren chuckled. Now, that would be a really embarrassing way to try and defend himself. He looked over at Scott, and all the empty and crumpled cups of coffee around his desk.

“What about you?” he asked “You look quite nonchalant.”

“I am actually terrified!” Scott said with a nervous laugh. “The jokes from my friends I can take, but if there’s any paparazzi waiting for me at home, I’m going to lose my shit. But you know, trying to stay optimistic.”

“I can help with that.” Darren offered. “I can get you one or more bodyguards. A new car. A new address...”

“Whoa, slow down. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m sure… I’m sure it’ll all blow over in like, a day or two. I’ll go back to being a nobody, and the only real issue left will be everyone in this building knowing we’re doing it.”

“Yeah, didn’t want to deal with that either. Ugh.”

Scott wondered if Darren meant, like… never. If he never intended to make their relationship public. Which brought to mind many concerns about where their relationship was going.

Darren noticed the implications of his comment right away, and quickly tried to explain himself.

“I mean, I’m not out to anyone. And I never really intended to do it. It’s just… the way I thought I’d live the rest of my life.”

“In secret?”

Darren sighed, somewhat frustrated with Scott’s comment.

“Yes. My life is all of this.” he said, waving around. “All of Cross Technologies. It is what I am and I never thought there could be room for anything else in the forefront.” he sighed. “But we already talked about this.”

Scott smiled, remembering the sad conversation they’d had a month into their thing. Darren had made it clear that it would either happen in secret, or not at all. And Scott had been hesitant at first, wondering if it was even worth getting into a relationship that, in his eyes, had a clear expiration date.

It would be fun, he had thought. A thrill. How many people like him, how many goddamn ex-cons got to have secret dalliances with multimillionaire heads of super-high-tech companies? He went in thinking about it as a summer fling, a fun and sexy but eventually short chapter of his life. Only month after month passed, their anniversary came and went, and Scott realized he had grown accustomed to the way their relationship worked. And even though secrecy was fine, and he didn’t want to make a big public announcement or anything, he wondered if one day he and Darren would be able to walk down the street holding hands. Or live in a house together. Or have a wedding.

Though he tried not to think about that too often.

“It’s cool.” Scott finally said. “I get it.”

And he did. From the very beginning, Scott knew he would always be second to Cross Technologies. That company was Darren’s love, and Scott would have to resign and be his mistress. Which wasn’t all that bad. Darren might love Cross Technologies more than Scott, be he sure as hell didn’t make love to it. Or kiss it. Or put an arm around its shoulders while he drived.

Darren composed himself as best as he could. He would allow showing vulnerability in front of Scott, but only to an extent, and it was time to return to work.

“Listen.” he said. “We will get through this. I will make sure of it.” he got up from the desk. “And like I said, if any journalists bother you, let me know. When do you think you’ll be done with my phone?”

“By 9, maybe. Do you want me to drop it by your office?”

“I’ll send someone for it, don’t worry. You keep working on the source.” he walked to the door and stopped before walking out. “Oh, by the way, Scott: think you can make it to dinner tonight?”

Scott laughed.

“You really are determined to go on as if nothing had changed?”

Darren shrugged, and with a playful smile and a wink, he left.

 

-

  

Before plugging Darren’s phone in, Scott snooped around a little bit. Not out of malice, but merely curiosity. He didn’t read Darren’s private conversations, in fact. He went straight to the picture and video galleries, to confirm that all past videos and photos they had shared were still there.

He saw his own cock a few times, too, from the nudes he had sent Darren. Internally, he groaned. In hindsight it felt like a really stupid thing to do, something horny teenagers would do. But damn if it wasn’t fun doing it in the moment.

They made their first video about five months after they started dating. It was a very short video of Scott riding Darren, but he had only recorded him from the waist up. Despite that, and despite all the joke flexing and kissing noises Scott did in the video, it was apparently one of Darren’s favorites. The metadata showed it had been played a lot of times. A lot.

Scott smiled as he remembered the second video. They were making out on the elevator on the way up to Darren’s apartment, and he was recording their reflection on the mirror. In the video, Scott turned around to smile at the camera, and then went back to kissing Darren’s neck and groping his hard cock through his pants. And Darren’s face looked at the reflection, smiling, observing the scene with perverse satisfaction.

The video brought vivid memories of what they had done that night, which surprised Scott, because it had happened almost a year ago.

The rest of the videos varied in lewdness. There was also a bit more than Scott remembered. In fact… there was quite the handful of videos. Suddenly, the fact that only one had been leaked seemed suspicious as hell.

What if the hackers were just delaying their release? The thought was somewhat scary, but Scott still believed the “scandal”, would blow over relatively fast. Didn’t it always? And they would survive, for sure. If Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian did, why couldn’t they?

But just because he held that hope it didn’t mean he wouldn’t work his ass off all day trying to figure out who leaked the video, and stop them if they truly planned to release the rest.

By nine o clock he was in severe need of more coffee, but was able to confirm that the video had, in fact, left Darren’s phone the previous night and found itself a cozy place up in the cloud. One step down. There were only a million more to go.

 

-

 

Going about his business as if nothing had happened was exactly what Darren intended to do. He still had a full agenda for most of the day. And he had lost some precious time already walking down to the IT department and talking to Scott. Time well invested, sure, but still…

So he inhaled deeply, raised his head, and through the rest of the morning he met every single glance every employee threw at him with confidence and defiance. And there were a lot of glances.

Employees could snicker and talk all they wanted behind his back, but when Darren was on the labs, or the workshops, or any kind of work space in the building, everybody continued to treat him with the utmost respect. Some of them blushed and stuttered when talking to him. He was slightly amused by their discomfort, but by the time he was done reviewing the projects with his science teams, everything felt almost normal.

Meeting with executives was another matter altogether. They weren’t his equals, but he didn’t loom over them like an all-powerful boss either. So they often took some liberties and had a familiarity that Darren didn’t appreciate.

By the end of one meeting, one of the executives raised his drink towards Darren, as if to make a toast. He said “Hey, Mr. Cross: Bottoms up!”, and everyone around the table laughed, albeit some more uncomfortably than others.

Darren forced a smile in silence, looking at said executive without blinking. The man seemed to immediately regret his joke.

Hope Van Dyne returned from her trip that afternoon, and they exchanged notes on their successes from the previous week. Darren had met with executives, Hope had met with scientists. Unlike the former, the later seemed really interested in the proposals Hope had brought them, and apparently, Cross Technologies had generated a positive buzz within scientific communities dedicated to health research. Things were looking up, at least in one front.

But Hope brought word from other colleagues, too, and they weren’t good.

“They’re going to call for you to resign, Darren.” she had said.

Darren figured a lot of hungry scavengers would use this scandal as an excuse to push against him. He wasn’t surprised, but it was cause for concern. He asked Hope in earnest:

“Do you think I should do it?”

She hesitated just a second before answering.

“…no. Of course not.”

He knew Hope. She wasn’t a vulture, eager to gain control of the company, but it had always been very important to her and her family. They had a pretty bad falling out about two years ago, and even though their relationship had mended, Darren knew she’d always be there to keep him in check.

“Maybe two years ago I would have pushed for it too.” she admitted. “But things are changing now. The company is trying a new direction, and we wouldn’t be as far as we are without you at the helm.”

“You flatter me.” he said, and he was sincere. “But perhaps not resigning right now would do more bad than good.”

Hope looked away, thoughtful.

“But you’ve done nothing wrong.” she concluded. “Someone exposed a perfectly normal, if a little embarrassing aspect of your personal life. That’s not grounds for resigning, Darren.”

He turned to look at Hope.

“What if I resigned in your favor?”

Her smile turned sad, and she sighed.

“I would be here for the company, if that’s what you wanted. But I don’t think it’s what you want.”

Darren smiled back, and both chuckled.

“What do you think I want, Hope?”

“Right now? The heads of all board members on pikes, I bet.”

Now that was an idea that hadn’t occurred to Darren, but it would sure make for an interesting decoration down in the lobby.

“What I really want...” he said. “Is for the next presentation to go smoothly. To get a new fresh batch of investors, and get our new research projects going. That would give us enough wiggle room to ditch some of our least trustworthy collaborators.”

“And don’t forget about how much it would benefit people.”

Darren stared at the distance, nodding.

“Yes, that’s great too.”

 

-

 

He showed up on Scott’s doorstep at 10:30pm, carrying two bags of really expensive italian food from a restaurant that didn’t really do “take away”, but those were the kinds of little things money could buy.

Scott’s apartment was small, definitely nicer than his previous dwelling, but still in line with what his salary could afford. Hanging around Scott’s orbit had taken some getting used to, but Darren had to admit it had its perks. He had grown really comfortable with it, in a way. So what if none of Scott’s plates, cups or forks matched? He knew where they all were. He could set the table while Scott, clearly ravenous, investigated the food.

“Any problem getting home from work?” Darren asked.

“None at all.” Scott said, opening one of the containers. “Had to delete my twitter though.”

Darren looked up, stunned.

“What?”

“Yeah, I was getting flooded with messages, so I figured… To hell with it, right? Barely used it anyway. I also, ah…” he hesitated. “I’ve been getting messages. Emails. From like, news sites and such. Don’t know where they got my address from, but they got it.”

Out of instinct, Darren approached the living room windows and discretely looked at the street outside. It was quiet, but if journalists were digging into Scott Lang’s identity, someone would make it there eventually.

“But anyway” Scott said, sitting at the table. “I’ve got good news.”

Darren sat next to him and poured wine for both. Then Scott’s debriefing began.

He had traced the leak. From state, to city, to street. The source was somewhere in Baltimore.

Darren stopped before taking the first bite out of his dinner, and instead got up to Scott and kissed him.

Scott, delighted by the sudden gesture and taking a few moments to savor Darren’s mouth, continued speaking.

“I get that means you’re so happy you could kiss me?”

“Yes.” Darren said, a radiant smile on his face. “Please continue.”

The hacker was in Baltimore. Still had no clue how they had reached the video in the cloud, or why Darren’s personal data was being uploaded there on the first place.

Because oh yeah, all of his pictures and videos were in the cloud. And just as Darren had said, he had turned cloud-sharing off. Which meant that something foul was going on before any hackers intervened, but posed another question: would the hacker publish the rest of his private spank material?

“Please, don’t call it that.” Darren requested.

“Sorry. Anyway...”

Scott continued explaining. With confidence, and a smug smile to match, he told Darren that the hacker would probably not post the rest of his videos. Why?

“Because the one we recorded last night is the best one.”

He sat back, triumphant, like a satisfied Sherlock Holmes after solving a case. Darren, however, was somewhat lost.

“I’ve been reviewing our videos.” Scott explained. “Most of the videos you’ve taken were from your perspective. So, all you can see in them is me. And who am I? Just some dude. The hackers really wanted your sex tape, your face somewhere in there. And the other videos where your face is visible? Well, they’re simply not as good. It’s always either partially obscured, or too dark, too blurry… Somebody might claim them to be fake.”

Darren understood, then, that the leak had been deliberate, and that someone had been watching all his moves, ready to pounce.

“We really gave them the fucking perfect movie, huh?” he asked, somewhat defeated.

“The Citizen Kane of sex tapes. Prime blackmail material. Except this guy skipped blackmail entirely. Asshole didn’t even try.”

That observation about their videos gave Darren some peace, but there were too many unknowns still for him to feel relieved.

“So, about my data...” Darren said, pulling out his phone.

“Get a new phone.” said Scott over a mouthful of pasta. “With a new company. Leave it to me for a while and I’ll check for vulnerabilities. And while we’re at it: sue the shit out of Apple. Seriously.”

That night, before making love on Scott’s bed, they turned their phones off. And left them outside, on the kitchen counter, just in case.

 

-

 

Things weren’t dying down as fast as Scott had hoped. Or perhaps time seemed to dilate around them, making every hour of every day feel longer than it was.

Darren’s confidence and determination wavered a little as he learned how much support he had lost within the structure of Cross Technologies. All across the board, men who used to respect him as both scientist and businessman were turning away. Two of them resigned. The board of investors wasn’t too happy, either.

As time went by he discovered that a fraction of the press was, surprisingly, on his side. He seemed to had garnered sympathy from journals that had been very critical with him in the past. Though for every journalist with a soul there was a dozen eager to drag Darren Cross into the mud and keep this story of humiliation alive by all means possible.

His only hope laid on the presentation next month, when their latest advancements would be shown to the public. Maybe some journalist would feel bad for making fun of him afterwards. Maybe not, but at least Darren’s conscience was clear. Cross Technologies was going to bring a lot of good to the table.

He talked to his lawyers, and an official investigation was set in motion. He had a rough idea of what they would find thanks to Scott, but was ready to accept that the whole process would take a lot longer. And his lawyers, though optimistic, presented a very dour picture of what the hacker or hackers could expect at the end of it all. Dour from Darren’s perspective, of course. The thought that the bastard who had done this would get little more than a year of jail time was infuriating.

Work helped keep him calm. Real work, the one he oversaw down in the labs, side by side with his teams of scientists. Their progress was amazing, and everybody was eager to show off their breakthroughs next month. They were putting a few last minute touches on their presentation, but there was an atmosphere of joy and confidence all around.

He lamented that the experience had to be tarnished by such an unfortunate event, but at least he had the labs and the workshops.

Nobody from the science or engineering teams had turned their back on Darren. Nobody had complained. Nobody had posted any passive-aggresive or downright homophobic tweets. They weren’t exactly warm with their boss, but their response was enough to make Darren appreciate them more than before, on a personal level.

By Thursday, as recommended by his panel of advisers, his personal assistant, and even Hope herself, Darren tweeted something about the incident. It was short and to the point, expressing sadness and disappointment at the violation of his privacy.

A lot of rumors quieted down after that, mostly having to do with Darren Cross accidentally posting the video himself, which was easy to disprove for anyone with minimal investigation skills. Regardless, his message garnered him some sympathy, and restored some dignity to the company.

Other celebrities came out in his defense, denouncing the leak and offering some much needed support. He wasn’t a particularly popular socialite among celebrities, but he appreciated the gesture anyways.

At the end of the week, the whole event felt like an earthquake that lasted days, with him and Scott smack in the middle and ripples of destructive consequences spreading in circles around them.

 

-

 

Scott didn’t have to do damage control for a whole corporation, but his life was rattled in other ways.

His coworkers began wondering if he was receiving favorable treatment, or some other hidden benefits for being in a relationship with the CEO. One of the IT lab guys asked him so, directly, with less malice than Scott expected. He delighted in explaining that he had gotten the job before meeting Darren personally, that Darren had had absolutely no hand on his hiring, and that his contract hadn’t been altered in any way since he began dating Darren. Yes, he loved explaining that, over and over again. His coworkers seemed to forget that there were several barriers in the company hierarchy separating him from Darren, and that if Darren had tried favoring him in any way, someone in the middle would have noticed.

Not to mention that Scott would have kicked his ass. He knew that, because Darren openly offered him a promotion one day, early in their relationship. He was very casual about using his wealth and influence for him. Scott put a quick end to that.

It was tempting, though. The idea of having someone willing and eager to invest their wealth in Scott, giving him all sorts of luxuries he would never be able to afford…

But he couldn’t do it. Some would call it pride. Scott didn’t care what it was, he only knew he couldn’t be with Darren on those terms.

A week after their one month anniversary Darren presented him with tickets for a weekend on Tahiti. Scott held them in his hands for a few seconds before he said no out loud. It was too much. It was ridiculous. The perks of wealth were fine, but that was outright decadent, and Scott wasn’t made for that.

Darren was somewhat angry at first, didn’t understand what the big deal was. Fortunately, he actually listened to what Scott had to say, and Scott figured he had explained his predicament well enough, because the man actually apologized. From then on he was a lot more careful with the presents he got for Scott. And any sort of professional meddling was deemed out of the question, forever.

They spent that weekend at the fair, riding the rides and eating hotdogs. It helped set down some ground rules for their relationship. It couldn’t be all luxury all the time, or else Scott would go crazy. Sometimes, Darren would have to get on Scott’s level. And even though he was reluctant at first, he was up to the challenge. That night he realized that he really didn’t care that much about Tahiti, all he wanted was to be with Scott. And fairground hotdogs weren’t so bad after all, not if Scott was there.

Scott’s coworker, Larry, came back from paternity leave. He almost broke down in tears when Scott confirmed that yes, the rumors he heard were true. He hugged Scott with superhuman strength, practically sobbing on him, telling him how brave he was and profusely apologizing for events he had no power over.

Well, at least Scott got one unwavering ally in the workplace. Good old Larry. The thought that the man was a dad now was strange as hell. But then again, a lot of people probably thought that about him, so fair’s fair.

His ex wife, Maggie, was less than thrilled about the whole ordeal… But she didn’t blame Scott. Well, perhaps a little, for choosing both a famous guy and his boss as a boyfriend. But aside from that, once he clarified some aspects about his sexuality as best as he could, Maggie was completely on his side.

Paxton wasn’t. So much so that Maggie arranged for him to be with Cassie when he wasn’t around. It would be better that way, she said. For the moment.

But no amount of unwanted attention from the media, no amount of cold shoulders from his coworkers, was as bad as finding out that his daughter knew something was up.

“Dad, do you have a boyfriend now?” she asked one evening.

He should have seen it coming, but he didn’t. And he felt foolish not being ready for that question, specially after all the time he’d had to prepare an answer. So he did what he always did with Cassie: he was honest.

“Yes, I do. Just as mom fell in love with Paxton, I have found… someone else.”

And in true Cassie form, she immediately asked if she could meet him. Wondered if he could be some sort of honorary third dad, and showed herself all around open and ready to embrace his dad’s partner without hesitation.

She also inquired slightly about the secrecy surrounding the whole ordeal. She had clearly heard her mom and Paxton argue, and who knew what sorts of things she had heard at school from other kids.

Scott told her that his boyfriend was just “very, very shy”, and that she would have to be patient with him. And as for why Paxton was so mad at him, he really didn’t have an answer. At least not one Cassie was ready to understand.

“I guess he just hates my boyfriend!” he told her.

Fortunately, that only made Cassie like Darren more by default.

He told Darren all about this when they met for breakfast on Sunday, the first real time they shared together since monday. The possibility of him meeting Cassie had never been on the table, until now. While Darren gave a non-committal response, Scott looked forward to the idea. Perhaps once things calmed down. He didn’t mention it again, afraid of pushing too much, too soon. It was only a week ago that their relationship was private.

“How about your friends?” Darren asked him. “How have they treated you?”

Scott smiled with fondness.

“They’re ride or die dudes, man.”

That was putting it mildly, but Scott decided to spare Darren the details of the impromptu surprise party they had organized for him. Like how Luis had insisted on high-fiving him for realizing the american dream of “screwing his boss”. And the many, many “sticking it to the man” jokes that happened throughout the night.

But jokes aside, they proved they were there for him. In fact they offered to track down the hacker, and when Scott told them he already knew where he was, they offered to drive there and beat the shit out of him. An offer he politely declined.

In return, Scott listened to Darren tell about his week. About all the names that had pulled their support. All the voices that had spoken against him. And even though Darren said not all of it was bad, hearing the real consequences of the leak hit like a truck.

“Don’t worry, though.” Darren said, finishing his breakfast. “I have a plan.”

He said it with a coldness that confused Scott for a few moments. They had already talked about the… “plan”. The investigation. The lawyers. For a second, Scott thought Darren wasn’t referring to those, but he decided not to ask.

 

-

 

Took tabloid journalists a week to circle in on Scott Lang. Aside from preparing mentally for it, he had practiced a few alternative routes to and from work, which came in handy once they showed up. After a couple of days, Luis showed up to save his bacon once again, and make it possible for him to meet Maggie and Cassie without dragging the vultures behind him. Darren reminded him that he could get a company car if he needed discretion, but in a way Luis gave him an extra layer of protection. He turned out to be very competent at blowing off paparazzi and “almost” running into their vans.

Their attention died down towards the end of the second week, fortunately, and Scott breathed easy. He continued to keep his guard up, but perhaps the journalists had figured he wasn’t worth their time and effort.

As for him and Darren, they barely had time to get together a couple of times a week. And Darren warned him that it would get worse towards the end of the month, as the big presentation approached.

Still, that tight schedule was something Scott expected, and the presence of paparazzi didn’t alter Darren’s agenda that much. If anything (and Scott would die before admitting this), it made their dates a little exciting. They had to use a different car, go to places they hadn’t been to before… They even went swimming to a sports club where nobody recognized them, and went to a jazz festival neither was particularly invested in, but that both enjoyed.

It was stressful, but slightly thrilling. They were used to just being discrete around the workplace, which had never been particularly exciting. Dodging paparazzi felt like a game, even if towards the end of the month they did end up getting quite tired of it.

Hype surrounding Cross Technologies’ “big reveal” spread through many journals and some newspapers as the date approached. Unfortunately, many mentions of Darren Cross were often followed with references to the… scandal. He wasn’t happy about it. They were preparing so many things for the conference, getting ready to unveil the product of years of prodigious work, and the journalists couldn’t help talking about his personal life. He was disgusted.

Cross Technologies would show them. The Yellowjacket would show them. If they couldn’t stop talking about the sex tape after that, then they were a lost cause.

A week and a half before the reveal, he met with Scott knowing he wouldn’t be seeing him until then. And he told him so. He had to travel to three different countries, and once he came back, he would be working non-stop until the big day.

He held Scott’s hand and kissed it, wondering if he would forgive him. He didn’t often feel remorseful about how much time he devoted to his work, but the circumstances surrounding this were… different. Though paparazzi had died down a little, they could still come back, and he didn’t want to leave Scott dealing with that alone. He didn’t want to leave for so long so soon after their… crisis.

God damn it, yes, he was getting a little sentimental after all. After being together a year and a half, when things were supposed to be winding down. When he was supposed to start getting bored of Scott. Instead, he wanted to be with him more than ever.

He had a wild idea. A very impulsive idea, the kind that Darren never had, for he always mulled everything over a minimum of a few hours.

It came to him during that last date before the presentation. They were watching a pre-recorded football match at Darren’s apartment, though neither was paying attention to the game. It was merely an excuse to drink beer, and have some background noise for their conversation.

“Why don’t you… attend the presentation?”

Scott considered the question for a few moments.

“Because I work on the IT department?” he said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world “I thought that thing was just for journalists and you eggheads.”

“No, I...” Darren said, his mouth suddenly dry. “Why don’t you attend with me?”

Scott went to drink his beer, but stopped halfway through.

“Oh.” he said. “Like a plus one.”

Precisely. Like a plus one. Which all other employees had, and would use to bring their spouses.

Darren took a drink from his beer, trying to sound nonchalant, trying to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal.

“I figured… cat’s out of the bag now, right? So we might as well… You know.”

“No, yeah, I get it.” Scott answered.

He didn’t say anything else, and for a very long and tense couple of silent minutes, he pretended to watch the game.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Darren tried to reassure him.

Scott shrugged, smiling awkwardly.

“Okay...”

“I won’t… I won’t be mad if you’re not there. It would mean nothing special to me...”

Scott looked into his eyes, stunned.

“Wow. That was a terrible thing to say.”

“I know.” Darren admitted. “And not what I meant at all.”

“I know, babe, I know.”

And he did. He knew Darren pretty well. He knew he wouldn’t be hurt if he declined to be there. It was, after all, what both had agreed their relationship would be like.

But he could also see that the gesture would mean something to Darren. And even though he wasn’t sure what it was, he was willing to take the risk.

“Will you help me pick a suit for it?” he said, stuffing his mouth with potato chips.

Darren seemed surprised.

“Yes.” he said.

“And will I have to follow you around the whole night, or can I be near the back? You know, away from cameras and stuff. How will it work exactly?”

Darren smiled. He leaned forward, a plan for his crazy idea forming in his head.

“Listen. I can’t guarantee that you won’t be in any pictures. But I know exactly how to keep you away from the spotlight as much as possible.”

Later that day, he called Hope Van Dyne to ask if she would mind babysitting his boyfriend during the parts of the conference he had to be on stage. She laughed and eventually agreed. But only after determining that Darren would owe her a favor, and that she intended to collect.

 

-

 

Darren couldn’t help Scott pick a suit in person, but he tried to give him good feedback via messages. Even if half of Scott’s pictures were jokes, and thus not very helpful to show how the suit really fit.

“I like this one.” Scott said, sending Darren a picture where he was posing like James Bond.

Darren smiled.

“You have good eye for suits.” he wrote him. “I will be wearing a similar one.”

“Do we have to match?”

“Absolutely not.”

About ten minutes later, Scott sent him another picture.

“Then I want to wear this one.”

The suit he was wearing was… Let’s just say it had a lot of personality. A very loud, unmistakable personality.

“I thought you didn’t want to be the center of attention?” Darren wrote.

Scott answered with a shrugging emoji.

Some time after that, Darren received a picture of what would eventually become Scott’s actual suit.

“I think this is the one.”

Dark gray, smooth lines, and it seemed to fit Scott’s figure pretty well. It seemed like a good choice. Darren texted him a thumbs up.

Scott sent him various pictures of him posing with the suit. And another comment.

“Do you think if I send you a sexy pic it will get hacked again?”

Darren sighed, and even though he smiled, he didn’t know if it was appropriate to laugh so soon. Perhaps Scott had the right idea, but regardless, he wouldn’t risk it. No matter how good Scott looked wearing that suit.

“Don’t.” he sent him.

Scott sent back a sad face, and a picture of him posing sexily, but with all garments properly buttoned and zipped.

“Enjoy this one, hacker dudes out there. Know you’re watching.” he wrote.

Darren smiled, but internally he thought: “hopefully not”

 

-

 

The big day came, and Darren wasn’t nervous. If anything, he was exhilarated.

The Cross Technologies auditorium was packed. Sure, it was a modestly sized auditorium, but there was still a considerable number of attendants. Some executives had suggested renting a bigger venue, but Darren liked to keep things close to home, in no small part because the technology they would be showing was unique and infinitely valuable.

The showing began with a quick look at Cross Technologies’ previous achievements in engineering. Then the explanation about the Pym particles began. And with it, the thread that would lead to the unveiling of the Yellowjacket suit.

“...so by following Hank Pym’s research, we reach a milestone nobody had dreamed of before. What if we could design and build pieces of complicated machinery that we could then shrink to minuscule size? The field of nano-technology would be changed forever. The applications for such technology would be endless. But here at Cross Technologies, we have put our attention in one particular field...”

Darren Cross stood next to a projection of an operating room, outfitted with the highest tech available in modern medicine.

“Advancements in robotics have proven invaluable for medicine. Advancements that we have followed very closely, because we couldn’t stop thinking about one question: what if we took one of those robots designed to aid in complicated operations... and made it small?”

The audience chuckled. With that confidence boost, Darren presented their research on medical technology. It was an assortment of machines designed for a myriad of different surgeries. The prototypes themselves were impressive, but when the audience saw what they were designed for there were reactions of surprise and enthusiasm.

“However,” Darren continued “we stumbled upon a problem. Our tools looked promising, but who would control them? And how would they do it? We experimented with a range of options, like remote controlled tech, even aided by virtual reality. We wanted doctors to have the easiest way to use these machines, these tools. They were designed to be microscopic, to get inside the body of a living human being, and under circumstances like that, there would be no margin of error. We needed something reliable. Something that worked. And we came up with a solution: We made the doctor small.”

And there it was. The Yellowjacket suit.

Murmurs of curiosity followed his statement, and impressed reactions upon seeing the suit once magnified. It was white and yellow, and had multiple robotic arms attached to the main body.

The gasps and curious murmurs turned into applause, once the Yellowjacket’s demonstration video finished, and Darren couldn’t have expected a better reaction.

 

-

 

Scott watched the presentation from the sidelines, quite interested despite not understanding a few of the parts. Fortunately, the whole show seemed designed so that laymen like him would get it. And even though the details were complicated, and Scott had a million questions about it, the general idea of the thing was really cool. Like “fantastic voyage”, but better.

As promised, Hope Van Dyne stood next to him. She was a remarkable woman, incredibly nice to Scott, who liked her immediately. And not only because she was his only lifeline in an event where he didn’t belong, surrounded by people he didn’t know. She had introduced him to a bunch of others, but he had already forgotten everyone’s names.

He had been with Darren for a few minutes before the presentation, but other than that, Hope was the only person he could talk to. The press had taken pictures. Lots of them. He was sure he must be in at least a dozen of them, standing awkwardly in the background, or to the side. He had walked next to Darren for approximately twenty seconds, and yet in that time, he heard hundreds of clicks and was blinded by as many flashes. And he smiled through the whole thing, wondering if people could tell how terrified and sweaty he really was.

He missed the yellowjacket’s reveal because he zoned out while looking at Darren’s face. He reacted once the public applauded, and yeah, the suit sure looked like one hell of a thing. And did Darren say they were going to shrink a doctor with it?

Hope Van Dyne picked up where Darren left, expanding a little on the science, and answering questions. Darren took her place next to Scott.

He looked… radiant, in a way that was slightly scary. Scott had only seen Darren like that a few times, always at work. He looked extremely proud, fearless, like he was challenging the whole world to suck his dick. Scott called it “peacock mode” and sometimes wondered if Darren would find it funny. He wasn’t going to check, just in case.

After Hope began talking, Scott and Darren exchanged glances. “Peacock mode” subsided a little, and they shared a “cute” smile. Labeled so by the journalist who sneaked a picture of that moment. A picture that featured on almost as many magazines as the yellowjacket did in newspapers the next morning.

Once both the presentation and the conference were done, there was time for… mingling. Quite a lot of it, although fortunately for Scott it went quite fast. Members from the science teams greeted Darren, some executives came by to congratulate him, and a number of potential investors made it clear that they were impressed and excited by the concepts presented. They couldn’t wait for a practical show of the yellowjacket, and Darren promised they would try to make it happen soon.

A lot of faces shined for their absence, or were present at the event but refused to approach Darren. At least they were honest, Darren thought. He knew many of the people he was shaking hands with that night had called for him to resign over the past month. Now they seemed to have made a 180 degree turn. At least the executives looking at him in disgust from the back of the room were honest.

Eventually, however, they made their way to them. Scott witnessed the most tense handshakes he had ever seen. Darren looked ready to break bone with a strong, unnatural grip. They were all older white dudes, rich and powerful, and once they noticed Scott and realized who he was, the poisonous gazes they were throwing Darren spread to him.

But after that tense dick measuring contest, another man approached, and the asshole patrol seemed to disband. Darren and Scott stood in place while Hope walked to meet the man and give him a hug, and Scott immediately knew who he was.

Darren’s mentor, Hank Pym. After Hope politely introduced him, Pym took Darren aside, and Scott watched anxiously while they spoke. Darren had spoken a million times about him, sometimes as if he idolized him, others as if he hated his guts. He really didn’t know what to expect from that conversation.

Pym spoke calmly, and Darren listened with attention. He looked tense. The expression on his face was neutral, cordial, the shield he used to cover his real and intense emotions.

But Pym’s expression was soft and open, and once he was done talking, he offered his open hand to Darren, who hesitated slightly before taking it. And this time, he wasn’t trying to crush bones. Scott saw Darren trying to stop himself from smiling for real, and saw him mutter something that looked like a “thank you”.

They parted ways, and Hope left with her father. Darren returned to Scott, and only then he noticed that the man’s hand was shaking, if only slightly.

“How did it go?” Scott asked.

Darren focused on breathing for a few seconds, then smiled. This… Darren looked different. Not like a peacock. Scott tried to think of another bird, one that was proud, but deservedly so. Maybe an eagle?

Darren gently put an arm around his shoulder and lead them towards the exit.

“He said he was proud of me.” he told Scott. 

 

-

 

Stocks went up, and all the voices that had questioned Darren’s leadership over the past month quieted down. The world wanted to hear more about Cross Technologies. They wanted to hear more of Darren. Only this time they wanted to know more about what he did, and not so much who he was sleeping with.

He was adamant and clear before every interview: there would be no questions about his personal life. Some bold journalists skirted around this, asking him about the company’s “bumps” before the unveiling, clearly alluding to the scandal that had shaken it. Darren tensed, smiled, and replied with as much diplomacy he could muster while disguising his anger and disgust.

One of the senior executives accosted him one day to inform him that some members would continue to push for his resignation. Darren was perplex. Why would anyone go to him to freely admit they were going to conspire against him?

He tried to remember his name… Was it Frank… something? He couldn’t place it at the moment, but suffice to say he had great plans for the man, and anyone else still looking to ruin him. He could take him for a tour of the lab, maybe get him well acquainted with the early stages of the particle scaling research.

Pretty much every single one of them was looked into by private investigators Darren hired, when it became clear that the official route wouldn’t be too thorough about the source of the hack. He didn’t care as much about finding the hackers anymore, he wanted to know if they were hired by someone from the company. And if he had to resort to other means to get names, well. He was extraordinarily rich. Money could always buy another way.

He held a black business card in his hand, with nothing in it but a logo and a number embedded in gold. He held it up to his eyes, trying to make what the logo was supposed to represent. It looked a bit like a butterfly, or perhaps a puddle of blood. That one would be appropriate.

He put it away when Scott approached and climbed in the car. Didn’t need to worry him with such details.

“Today is a special occasion.” he said.

“Really? What are we celebrating?”

He handed Scott his phone so he could read the news. Three of the tabloids Darren had sued for posting their sex tape had been indicted, and were set to close by the end of the trimester.

“Holy shit.”

He turned to look at Scott’s shocked face, and smiled in return.

“Satisfying, isn’t it? I’ll take us somewhere nice for a toast.”

That somewhere nice turned out to be the beach, and Darren had packed a modest picnic basket along with the champagne. It was a less than ideal windy day, but it was nice. They had a fantastic view of the Golden Gate bridge and a whole day to enjoy before them.

But there was still a matter that wouldn’t leave Darren’s mind, and it had everything to do with the night at the presentation, and Scott being there. The fact of the matter was… he had loved it. He had loved turning to the side and seeing him there, looking back at him. For a moment, it made him strangely thankful that their privacy had been exposed the way it was. Without that, he would never had considered inviting Scott to an event like that.

It was perverse, for sure, and perhaps he was just desperate to see a silver lining to the whole sex tape fiasco. But at some point between the presentation night and then, he had accepted it. The harm was done now, he had been outed, and there was no turning back to the way things were before. And after the presentation, he knew one thing for sure: Darren Cross would survive, and so would Cross Technologies. But he wondered if the same could be said about him ans Scott’s relationship.

Because he wanted it to survive. Scott stopped being a “fling” a long time ago, he just hadn’t realized it. Perhaps he didn’t want to face the truth.

All Darren knew for sure was that he didn’t want to put it off any longer. 

“Scott” Darren began. “There is something I need to ask you. Before I go on, let me tell you right away that this is not a proposal. I am… not proposing right now. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed by that...”

Scott laughed, interrupting him.

“Oh no, oh no, I’m quite relieved actually.”

“Well, good.” With that out of the way, he inhaled, trying to remain calm. “But what I need to ask… Perhaps it’s just as important. I want to ask if you want to continue being my partner. My boyfriend.”

Scott looked at him, somewhat confused.

“That’s it?”

Darren wasn’t surprised by Scott’s reaction, so he continued to explain:

“When this all began, I made it clear that it would be secret. You agreed, and we’ve been together by those rules ever since. But now, the rules have changed. If we continue this, you’re not going to be Darren Cross’ secret lover anymore. You’re going to be Darren Cross’ boyfriend. And even though we can try and continue doing things just as we’ve been doing then until now, I was hoping that maybe...”

“Yes?”

“Maybe you could accompany me to social events every now and then. Like the other night. If you want to, of course.”

Scott nodded, thoughtful.

“I see.”

“I understand you might not want the attention, and I won’t force you to be there… But there is a place for you, if you want it. Not directly under the spotlight, but... next to it. Next to me. So you… we... don’t have to be so hidden anymore.”

Scott drank from his champagne and looked in the distance, smiling the whole time. He looked like he was thinking it over, but his mind was made up before Darren even brought up the issue.

“Yeah.” he said. “I think I’d like that.” 

 

- 

 

Scott presented Darren with a small gift, wrapped in shiny beige paper.

It wasn’t unusual, despite the fact that Darren made a lot more money than Scott. He liked the gesture more than anything else.

This time, however, Darren was thoroughly unimpressed with his “gift”.

“Oh, it’s my new phone.” he said, pulling it out of the box. “Which I picked and bought myself.”

“Yep.” stated Scott, undeterred. “But I’ve given you a gift that you can’t get from the store: I’ve pulled that thing apart, poked and prodded and pulled at the seams, and I can confirm with a 99% guarantee that none of your data will end up on the wrong hands.”

Darren set the gift box aside and sat next to Scott.

“So that 1%...”

“Can’t predict everything, sorry.” Scott apologized. “But I still think the odds are pretty good. In fact, I left you another present in there. Why don’t you check it out while I slip into something more comfortable?”

He winked and left for his bedroom, while Darren unlocked the phone. Set as background was a picture of a very, very naked Scott.

He sighed, smiling.

“It’s just what I wanted.”

Scott re-appeared, wearing only his briefs.

“I was also thinking that maybe... we could record a sequel to our movie?”

Darren approached Scott, phone in hand, wondering whether to leave it there or bring it with him to the bedroom. He placed a hand on Scott’s hip.

“Let’s rehearse first.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to add an epilogue where Darren hunted down and killed the hackers, but I decided against it. On one hand, I didn't want to drag the story too long, and on the other ... I liked the idea of Darren letting go, and focusing on his happiness with Scott.
> 
> But if you're like me and need a little closure, and retribution for the guys who did it: let's say they got away, but that they moved to New York, where they crossed paths with the Punisher, who killed them violently. The end.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
